Halo 2 and 3 are pretty similar games. Some things are done better in 2 and some in 3. Both are definitely worse than Halo 1.

Halo 3 probably has the best vehicle sandbox in the series, as well as some really good big team maps (Avalanche, Valhalla). The only terrible thing about the vehicles is that they flip from being shot by bullets.

Halo 3's weapon sandbox is more refined than Halo 2's in some ways, but its gunplay feels less tight than Halo 2's. I also don't think the Spartan Laser plays a good role in multiplayer, especially on maps with only one Laser, since the team that controls it will also control all the vehicles. Arena maps are definitely worse than Halo 2's, and mostly worse than Halo 1's.

We're less excited about Halo 3 because a lot of us have played it within the past couple years, and more importantly, it's the only appreciated Halo game that we can go and play right now with friends if we wanted to. Obviously we can't say the same about Halo 1 and 2.

The game as a whole would've been a lot better had they kept beta weapon balance. The Carbine was a viable alternative to the BR, instead if being the busted ass piece of shit that it is now.

I like it, but I don't like it as much as Halo 2. The map selection in particular is FAR weaker than H2, and outside of Blackout (insert intense vomit noises here), some of the strongest maps in the game are remakes.

Drew, I remember you saying that you didn't play much Halo 2 multiplayer and Halo 3 was really your first Halo game that you were super hyped for. I also remember you saying you played a decent amount of Halo PC, but I don't know how true that actually is since no one knows if you're a real person or not.

Nightshade, I know you've told me you hated H1's multiplayer because the pistol was OP and you were only good at getting killed by it.

Drew, I remember you saying that you didn't play much Halo 2 multiplayer and Halo 3 was really your first Halo game that you were super hyped for. I also remember you saying you played a decent amount of Halo PC, but I don't know how true that actually is since no one knows if you're a real person or not.

Nightshade, I know you've told me you hated H1's multiplayer because the pistol was OP and you were only good at getting killed by it.

When I was younger, you were absolutely correct. I did hate the pistol. Keeping in mind I played Halo: CE when I was 11, and Halo 2 (when I met everyone here) when I was 14. However, after spending sometime with the game now after entering college, etc? I've had a pretty good heel turn on the game's multiplayer as a whole.

I don't know why you'd be "skeptical" of something I said here. Opinions change. Like many things, you aren't beholden to keep every single opinion you've had ever.

I prefer Halo 2, and that's assuming you are talking about 2 versus 3. Had a better battle rifle because it had hitscan, where in 3 you had to lead you bullets depending on range. 3 had that horrible double KO situation with melee when it couldn't decide if one person swung faster than another. Definitely had better maps. Better ranking system (opposed to the modders and lag switchers).

I still believe that Halo 3 would have been a much better game if it would have kept a lot of the beta mechanics. And Halo 1 Anniversary should have had online multiplayer with the same remade multiplayer map treatment that H2 is getting now. I would have bought 2 copies. Serious.

When did I say I didn't play much Halo 2? I played a lot with you guys before Halo 3 came out, but before that (on an account that was banned - repeated trash talking bans, imagine that) I played several thousand MP games, and did tons of LAN stuff on top of that. Halo 2 was actually the first game I ever stood in line for at midnight, so I'd say I was pretty hyped for it.

I've been deep in Halo's tight little butthole since the first game. I played the Xbox version extensively at LANs and over Xbox Connect, and shifted to the PC version after I begged a nice video card off my dad. I've played the PC version on and off ever since, it's always the first game I install when I get a new computer or nuke Windows.

Anyway, why would you be skeptical? I replay them fairly regularly with my bro, it will be nice to do it all with one disc when the Cumpilation is out.

When did I say I didn't play much Halo 2? I played a lot with you guys before Halo 3 came out, but before that (on an account that was banned - repeated trash talking bans, imagine that) I played several thousand MP games, and did tons of LAN stuff on top of that. Halo 2 was actually the first game I ever stood in line for at midnight, so I'd say I was pretty hyped for it.

I've been deep in Halo's tight little butthole since the first game. I played the Xbox version extensively at LANs and over Xbox Connect, and shifted to the PC version after I begged a nice video card off my dad. I've played the PC version on and off ever since, it's always the first game I install when I get a new computer or nuke Windows.

Anyway, why would you be skeptical? I replay them fairly regularly with my bro, it will be nice to do it all with one disc when the Cumpilation is out.

Eleven year old Drew McDuffy trash talking. That must have been a treat.

Anyway, we had an IM conversation a while ago where you were explaining how you were super hyped for and ultimately disappointed by Halo 3. Most of us here learned our lesson in Halo-hype with Halo 2. It seems weird that it took until Halo 3 for you to learn that same lesson if you were super into Halo since the beginning, so I assumed you didn't play a ton of the first two games.

I wasn't so butthurt about the campaign like many were. I mean, it pissed me off, but I got over it pretty quick. Multiplayer was fun enough, and had Xbox Live support, so that did a pretty good job of distracting me.

Halo 2 was before I was super into the online hype machine, I didn't really get caught up in all of that until I started lurking NeoGAF. Thusly, Halo 3 was my first real experience with massively over-inflated expectations and the crash back down to reality was... Not pretty.

phreak, to answer your question we've never had an HD version of Halo 2 to play on a console and we can't play it now so that's why the hype is much bigger for that now. I will say that if it wasn't for the maps I think overall Halo 3 would be much better than Halo 2, and that's for both multiplayer and campaign.

Depends on what we're rating.

Multiplayer?

CE > Halo 2 > Halo 3 > Halo: Reach > Halo 4

Story?

CE > Halo 2 > Halo: Reach > Halo 3 > poop > Halo 4

Singleplayer levels?

CE > Halo: Reach > Halo 3 > Halo 2 > Halo 4

Multiplayer

CE > Halo 2 > Halo 3 > Halo 4 > Reach

Campaign Levels

CE > Halo 3 > Halo 2 > Halo 4 > Reach

Story

CE > Halo 3 > Halo 2 > Reach > Halo 4

Core mechanics

CE > Halo 3 > Halo 2 > Halo 4 > Reach

If you notice a trend, Reach I believe is clearly the weakest of the series. I obviously still love Halo Reach but I'm just comparing it to the other ones.

Reach was a thousand times better than Halo 4 in every way. If I were to break it down and rank individual components:

MP Gameplay:

CE >>> H2 > H3 > Reach >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> H4

MP Levels:

H2 > CE > H3 > Reach >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> H4

Story:

CE > H3 > H2 > Reach >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> H4

SP Levels:

CE >>> Reach = H3 > H2 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> H4

If you took off the "Halo" part off of Halo 4 and instead called it "Dumb Space Shit: Pretty Graphics 4 *NOW WITH TERRIBLE AI AND ROBOT LOVE STORY*" I might consider it a decent game in its own right, but it pales in comparison to the previous entries in the series, and marks the absolute death of the franchise.

The story in Halo is somewhat of a moot point for me so I'm going to just rate multiplayer.

Halo 1 >= 2 > 4 > 3 > Reach

In terms of how fun the game is, I almost consider 1 and 2 equals. Almost. With that said, 4 and 3 on the other hand and I seem to be the minority here, but I actually prefer 4 over 3. Even after playing last night Halo 3's multiplayer is odd just like I remember it being. It's slow (in more ways than one) and has still has people bouncing around thanks to it's amazing netcode. I prefer 4 more because while even though it does have it's issues, the majority of them can be turned off, and when that happens it plays a LOT closer to how quick Halo 2 felt. 3 cannot be made to feel better hardly at all.

Reach has the worst copy/pasta maps from it's own damn campaign and was plagued with reticule bloom. Worst gameplay mechanic ever.

Reach was a thousand times better than Halo 4 in every way. If I were to break it down and rank individual components:

MP Gameplay:

CE >>> H2 > H3 > Reach >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> H4

MP Levels:

H2 > CE > H3 > Reach >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> H4

Story:

CE > H3 > H2 > Reach >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> H4

SP Levels:

CE >>> Reach = H3 > H2 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> H4

If you took off the "Halo" part off of Halo 4 and instead called it "Dumb Space Shit: Pretty Graphics 4 *NOW WITH TERRIBLE AI AND ROBOT LOVE STORY*" I might consider it a decent game in its own right, but it pales in comparison to the previous entries in the series, and marks the absolute death of the franchise.

Right, so I'm assuming you think bloom is better in Reach, jump height is better in Reach, melees in Reach are better too since you have to melee once to pop the shield and again for kills as there's no bleed-through, the mini-nukes called grenades are better in Reach, the maps, oh and armor lock.